17 March 2012

If you have not yet converted your Facebook fan page over to the new Timeline design, your page will automatically convert on March 30th,
2012 which is coming up fast. This post covers the majority of basic
settings and features you need to know. Even if you’ve upgraded, you’ll
find some tips here!

1. Preview

You have a chance to preview
your page(s) first, made all the edits you wish, get it just the way
you want it, then publish. Look for the preview option at the top of
your page in the old design. Or, see a list of your pages here and turn on page preview mode. Before you publish, at minimum just have an attractive cover image loaded.

2. March 30

Your page will automatically convert on March 30. My advise is don’t wait.
There really is no strategic advantage to waiting … okay, maybe if you
have a really hot custom landing tab with a like-gating campaign that’s
going extremely well. Otherwise, go for the upgrade now and lead the way
by educating your fans on all the new features.

3. Cover Image

Dimensions for the large cover image is 851 x 315 pixels.
If you upload an image that’s smaller than these dimensions, it will
get stretched to this larger size. The image you upload must be at least
399 pixels wide. Facebook encourages you to change your cover image as
often as you wish. Newsflash: each time you change your cover image,
this posts on to your wall and goes out into the news feed of your fans.
You may find the activity itself doesn’t get great Edgerank (visibility
score in the news feed). So, what you can do is hide the activity on
your wall, then share the new cover image with a call to action in the textual area, e.g. We’re celebrating 10,000 fans today and just changed our cover image in honor of all of You! Click like if you like! -To
be clear, that message does *not* go ON your cover image itself. You’re
posting your cover image on your wall with the message as a
description.)

4. Image rules

Do not put contact info, calls to action, or arrows pointing to the Like or Share button on your cover image. See the Page Guidelines here.
Contact info should go in your about section. The no calls to action
rule is likely because Facebook has been very generous with this large
piece of real estate … however, the company does not want us to run hogwild with all manner of promotions and campaigns… for free! Those come at a price and are called Facebook ads! And the new Premium Ads and Reach Generator. And, the one I’m most excited about: Offers (that one is actually free to set up, though currently only available to large brands).

5. Profile picture

Your profile picture is always a square and is displayed at 125 x 125
pixels or 150 x 150 pixels, depending on the size of someone’s screen.
The photo you upload must be at least 180 x 180 pixels. Facebook
discourage page owners from changing their profile picture that often.
This is the primary, instantly-recognizable image that tracks you throughout Facebook wherever your posts go and wherever you comment as your Page.

6. Landing tab

You can no longer set a default landing tab. Make
good use of the cover image, instead (see #3 above) and the three main
apps (see #8 below). Plus, drive traffic to whichever tab you wish (see
#7 below).

7. App URLs

Custom apps all still function, including the fan-gating feature. Each tab/app still has a unique URL so you can drive traffic from inside or outside Facebook to any ‘landing page’ you wish.

8. Showcase apps

Just below your cover image, your ‘tabs’ are now displayed as apps or views.
You can have a max of 12, though only four are always on display. The
first one is always Photos and cannot be moved. ‘Views’ are Facebook’s
default apps or features such as Photos, Events, Likes, Notes, Map. Apps
are all third party apps.

9. Custom thumbnail

You can add a custom thumbnail image to all your apps. The dimensions are 111 x 74 pixels. These are great areas to get creative and add seamless branding, calls to action, and specials.
To add/change a custom thumbnail, first expand all apps by clicking the
small down arrow to the right of the four app display. Then hover over
any app > click the edit pencil > click Edit Settings > click
Change next to Custom Tab Image (opens in a new window) > click
Change > upload an image. Voila. The image loads and saves right away.
(I have noticed bugs with this feature and have often seen other pages’
thumbnails appear… you may need to upload a couple times to get your
image to stick!).